A tale of two lives
by HopelessWonderer
Summary: Mai Koyuki, a 15 year old girl with a strange past. Being in Karakura Town has impacted Mai's life in many more ways than one, slowly breaking the seal on her memories - but now she must learn her past to write her future. Will Ichigo and the gang be able to save her from the depths or will the truth crush her, will this one girl be able to hold this new found weight?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** \- From now on I am going back through all 5 chapters and re-writing them because I realised they were kinda shitty so I am starting again! There will be a 6th chapter up soon enough but I want to make the story a bit easier to read first and then I'll think about what to do for the 6th chapter.

 **Disclaimer -** I do not own Bleach - **Tite Kubo does!**

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1

Mai Koyuki, a simple blonde haired teenager. The blue eyed female had never known her mother and was raised by her ill father, Mai was grateful for everything she had in life although she always felt as though she was missing something. As if something was missing, like it had been taken from her. The female knew that she had never met her mother but as she looked at the only image of the said woman she felt as though she recognised her, not only because she herself looked like the woman in question, but as if she had met her before.

The image that sat in Mai's lap was slightly faded and crinkled at the edges due to constant use. The image held a smiling female who looked to be pregnant and her happy husband beside her, they both looked at the camera with so much love for each other. Mai had never seen that look in her father's eyes and the thought of it not being there made the girl sad, she knew that her father had lost the love of his life but she felt slightly guilty due to the fact that her mother had died in childbirth.

Now Mai's father was desperately ill and the said female was scared that she would never be able to that look in his face again, because she knew that he didn't have long left and she was determined to see love in his eyes at least once before the inevitable happened. The young girls shoulders dropped as she felt tears form in the corners of her eyes, she wished she was able to do something for the dark haired male, anything that would help him through the pain he goes through everyday.

"Snowflake," a soft voice brought Mai from her wallowing, the voice only a whisper. The blonde looked to her doorway and saw her father standing there leaning against the wood of the doorway with a soft smile on his face. She smiled back as the dark haired male walked forward and sat next to the blue eyed female on her bed, both then looking down at the faded photo - both with completely different thought patterns.

"What was mom like?" Mai's quiet voice broke the comfortable silence between father and daughter. The elder males blue eyes widened slightly before becoming warm and looking into his daughters matching eyes. The blonde teen looked at her father with a smile and urged him to tell her everything about her mother, she loved hearing about the times they would spend together and the stories he would make up about the adventures they would go on to a place called 'The Soul Society'.

"Well, your mother was quiet when I first met her, she always seemed to be scared of something." Itachi had to pause to laugh lightly to himself before looking down at the smiling face if his daughter who reminded him so much of her mother and the love of his life. He shook his head lightly, long black hair flying around his face while he sighed before taking the photo from Mai's hand and looking at it closer.

"She loved to see other people smile, even if that meant she herself wasn't happy. Your mother sure was stubborn like that, she put everyone before herself, even me - can you believe that?" Itachi paused again and laughed lightly along with his daughter and looked to the small blond with a warm look in his eyes, he looked back to the photo and took every detail of his wife's face and memorised it, knowing it would be one of the few times he would get to see this photo.

"When your mother had gotten pregnant she wanted the best for you and was contemplating not keeping you. We were both young when you were conceived and we were both scared, but when she gave birth we couldn't ever let you go. You were ours and you would only ever be ours." The dark haired males head slumped down and he clenched his teeth to stop the tears that were forming in his eyes, he hated to cry in front of his daughter, he didn't want to appear weak in front of the only thing he had left to protect. His blue eyes widened when he felt Mai lean against him and wrap her thin arms around his middle and rest her head in the crook of his neck, he smiled at the touch and wrapped his right arm around her small body and brought her closer to himself before closing his eyes and smiling brighter.

"She loved you so much but nothing could have been done to help her, she was just lost," e he said in a small voice, he hated to admit it but he knew that his wife was destined to die. After all Mai was the very reason that he himself was ill and that his wife had died, yet Itachi loved this small girl with every fibre of his being. Mai sighed as she felt warm tears land on her head and she couldn't help but hold her father tighter, and make sure that he didn't break in her hold.

Itachi pulled away from his daughter and smiled at the pale girl while standing up and wiping under his eyes, he looked at the image in his hand one last time then handed it back to the blonde before him and ruffled her hair before walking towards the door again, the dark haired male looked over his shoulder and saw that Mai was looking at the image in her hand with a loving smile and pain in her eyes, he knew that she missed her mother although she had never met her and that in itself brought pain to the elder males heart.

"Come on snowflake, you have to go to sleep now. You start a new school year in the morning," Mai turned her head to her father and nodded before crawling to the top of her bed and getting under the covers, while placing the image of her mother under her pillow. Itachi smiled at his daughter and lightly kissed the top of her head and then turning the light off and closing the door behind him while he walked out of her room.

Mai opened one of her eyes when she heard the door shut and quickly threw the covers off of her body and grabbed the photo from under her pillows, he quickly and quietly made her way to the window. Without making a sound she slid the window open and climbed out onto the ledge before puling herself up onto the roof. Her long hair blew in the slight wind as she stood and walked over to the chimney and leaned against it and looked out over the houses surrounding her. A serene smile came to her face as she saw everything was quiet, everything was calm and everyone was fine, even the stars were out. The blue eyed teen looked above her and smiled at the bright dots that shone down on her from above. Her thoughts allowed her to escape the world for a short time and be free from the burdens that chained her to the ground.

As soon as sunlight shone through the crack in the curtain Mai opened her eyes and cursed the fact that she had left her curtains like that, but she still pushed herself up from the confines of her warm bed and made her way down the hall and into the bathroom where she stripped down and got into the shower to wake herself up for the first day back at school. When the blonde female stepped out of the warm shower she wrapped herself in a small fluffy towel and wiped the fog off of the mirror so she could finish getting ready for school.

When Mai was finished in the bathroom she made her way into her bedroom to get dressed, her shirt fit well but was slightly too tight around her chest where she had grown over the summer, but everything else had seemed to fit her just fine, her skirt sat mid thigh and had been ironed the night before so it was presentable for the first day back and her blazer and been washed and dried to be nice and fresh for the day ahead. The blue eyed female quickly pulled her black knee high socks on and slipped her black pumps on and she was ready for the fist day back at Karakura High School.

"Snowflake! Its almost 7, don't you need to be leaving soon?" a small voiced called from the furthest bedroom, Mai looked at the clock and realised she was late so she quickly thanked her father and quickly made her way onto the busy streets of Karakura, she was careful not to get into anybody's way because she knew that everybody there had a place to be and she didn't want to be the reason for any of them being late for their first days back.

The 15 year old quickly walked her usual route to school, making sure that she went past the memorial of a small girl that had passed, to leave another flower. Mai hated to see a child that had no longer been remembered, and every time she saw the small brown haired girl she always saw herself in her lonely eyes. The small girl had died a few years ago and in a way Mai thought that she and the young girl were in the same boat, even though Mai was still breathing she felt as though she should be dead because of how numb her mind usually felt.

Mai then smiled as she crouched down and placed a small flower in front of the image that lent against the telephone pole in a small back road that eventually lead the way to Karakura High School, a way that she had found thanks to her orange haired friend. The blue eyed female looked to the image of the girl one last time before standing up and brushing the small amount of dirt off of her knees and turning to walk the way she was meant to when she heard a whisper in the wind that sounded like the words 'Thank you'. Mai smiled again and allowed her thought to wonder just like last night.

Mai liked to think to herself on her way to and from school, she had always thought that it was comforting and this was a lot quieter than most of the places that she found herself, meaning all of the boys who would fawn over poor Orihime and the worrying voice of her father when she got home. Mai shook her head at the thought, her blonde curls moving with every shake, her laugh was light and she couldn't help the slight pitying look she gave to the sky while thinking about it.

"Mai?" a strong voice called, bringing the blonde teen out of her thoughts. Mai's head turned in the direction of the male and saw that it was Ichigo, he had been one of the first people to welcome her to Karakura town and help her fit in at school. Even though he may appear to be cool and collected, the blonde knew that deep down he was a big softy and she believed that he was nicer than what he thought he was and she was determined to try and find his soft spot. She smiled as the male took a few more steps to catch up to the short female.

"Morning Ichigo," Mai smiled, and the orange haired male took that moment to look at the girl before him and see how much she had changed over the summer. Ichigo noticed that her hair had gotten a shade lighter, now making her hair a bleach blonde but in certain light it almost looked white, and it had also gotten a few inches longer meaning it now sat just under the small girls waist. The girl however had not physically grown and was barely even up to Ichigo's shoulder, causing a small smile to form on his face at the thought. Mai's eyes however were still the pale blue they had been when he had last seen her and they still shone with a slight child's mirth.

"Ichigo, are you alright?" the blonde questioned, she had asked him the same question repeatedly and he had not answered making Mai worried slightly. She furrowed her blonde brows as she waved a hand in front of his face which seemed to bring him out of whatever he was in, Ichigo shook his head and smiled at the girl in front of his before seeing the confused look on her face and then becoming confused himself.

"huh, what?" Ichigo mumbled out as he shook his head again, the orange haired male smiled at the blue eyed girl before him and walked on leaving s lightly confused blonde behind, but as he walked he wasn't looking where he was going and his face collide with a pole. There was a brief moment of silence as both teens took in what had happened and then a light and breezy laugh was heard. Mai couldn't hold in the laughing fit she had as she had not seen the pole coming herself and the shock of the whole Ichigo - face-planting incident made her laugh even harder.

The brown eyed male had just pushed himself away from the pole and began to rub the spot on his forehead which hurt the most and he began to glare at the blonde girl beside him yet she was oblivious to his glare, and after a while her laughing had died down and Mai was trying to regain her composure. But the look on Ichigo's face and now red forehead had the small girl laughing all over again and Ichigo sighed before walking away from the girl slightly while glaring at the floor with one of his hands on his head still rubbing the same spot.

"You have to admit Ichigo that it was funny," Mai said quietly while they walked side by side, neither of them looking away from the path that they followed, Ichigo glanced in the blue eyed teens direction and saw a small pink tint to her cheeks from her previous laughing, and he would have to admit that if it didn't hurt quite as much as it did he may have found it funny or even if it had happened to her. Soon after that they had arrived at their destination. Karakura High School. Ichigo sighed and dropped his head as he mentally prepared himself for the day ahead with his friends pestering him about what he did over summer, while Mai stood there looking back at Ichigo waiting for him to walk with her into school - she personally didn't worry about school as she had Orihime and Tatsuki and no one really bothered her around here.

Quickly shaking her head Mai began to walk further into the school with Ichigo hot on her tail as he sulked lightly over the fact he had annoying friends, as soon as they had set foot in the classroom they had both been bombarded by their friends, Mai being polite smiled at everyone who called her name, and she hugged the people back who had hugged her. The young blonde was too rusting for her own good, Ichigo thought as he watched the blue eyed teen be dragged away by the crowed of people that he surrounded her.

"Mai! I've missed you!" a high voice called out, the blue eyed teen turned around and found Orihime running to her with her arms out wide, Mai couldn't help the large smile that came to her face as she opened her arms for the grey eyed girl to run into them and rap her own arms around Mai's neck. The blonde female was not surprised at all by Orihime, she always was kind to her and she always excepted the brown eyed girls hugs as they were so warm and welcoming, both girls then stood there holding each other for a few seconds before Mai pulled away slightly and began mindless chatter with the orange haired female before her.

This then lasted most of the day as they both caught up with everything that they had missed about each other over the summer. Orihime then making Mai feel a little queasy with the new combinations of food that the gray eyed girl had come up with, and always trying to get Mai to try them, each time she kindly declined or came up with an excuse as to why she couldnt eat the strange things that Orihime had come up with because they sounded as though they would kill her if she put it in her mouth.

The day went by quickly for Mai, she had been catching up with her closest friends and watching how new people interacted and got into the flow of school, but something seemed different, she kept hearing things. At first it was like a buzzing that wouldn't go away but by the end of the school day when she was walking to work she heard louder noises. All through her work shift she had heard these strange sounds and they were worrying her, no one in the restaurant seemed as if they could hear them so she pushed it to the back of her mind, but she was beginning to feel uneasy.

Mai quickly pulled her curled hair into a high pony tail and carried on with her job while ignoring the increasingly load noises from around her, and by the end of the night the small blonde had been shaking non-stop so when she finally got let off from work she became worried, she quickly grabbed her bag and school books before running from the restaurant. With every step that she took she heard more roars, not just any roars, loud ones, ones that sounded close, and hungry. The blue eyed girl had never heard anything like this in her life, she wanted to tell her father but she didn't want him to think she was crazy, so she tucked her head down and wrapped her arms tighter around her books, wishing she was already in the confinements of her home. Closing her eyes she picked up her speed and was almost running home.

A loud crash suddenly pulled Mai from her running, it sounded close but she had no idea what it could have been, but it sounded as if something like a body had been thrown into a solid object. The young blonde was pulled from her thoughts when the ground suddenly shook, the force made the girl freeze and drop her books and when she looked for the source she had found a beast standing before her. The beast had a white mask and what appeared to be the body of a lizard but it had a hole through its chest so that she could clearly see through this thing before, meaning she could see everything that was behind this beast.

The blue eyed girl shook, she couldn't move, she couldn't make a noise, she was too scared to run. Her very blood running cold at the sight, the pure fear that ran through her bones was enough to make her knees shake and her heart to momentarily stop beating. Mai had been staring for what felt like years when suddenly the beast stepped forward, the movement jolted her and gave the blonde movement back. Mai didn't have to think twice before she took off running in the opposite direction. The shaking of the ground behind her confirmed that the beast was still chasing her and the small blue eyed teen made the mistake of looking over her shoulder making her loose concentration momentarily making her fall and skid across the floor grazing her arm and legs up.

Mai panted as she held her arm, the shaking momentarily stopped but before she could turn and inspect what had happened, she felt a cold hand wrap around her body, the very same hands that belonged to the beast that had been chasing her. Mai screamed as she faced the monster in the white mask and the beast simply smiled, or what the blonde teen thought was a smile. She severely hoped that she would soon wake up, wishing this was all a bad nightmare and at any moment her father would come into her room and wake her up and comfort her the way that always made her feel better.

The small teen quickly closed her eyes and hoped that it would all be over soon or by some miracle she would be saved, Mai thought that for sure this would be the end of her but by the luck of the gods she heard something, her blue orbs opened and stared around her, she had felt something in the air and as she looked above her she saw something, she saw someone. A girl around the same age and height as herself holding a sword that seemed to glisten in the moonlight, Mai didn't have very much time to asses the girl as a sword came awfully close to the blonde teen cutting straight through the beasts arm and sending Mai hurtling towards the ground, she screamed but her fear was short lived as she hit the ground with a thud and became instantly unconscious.

Unbeknown to Mai, her father soon showed up wearing an identical uniform to the girl that had saved the blonde that lay not 20 feet away. Itachi knew what had happened and knew that he was running out of time to tell his daughter the truth. He looked to the girl in question and saw her breathing steadily while her hair lay around her like a shining halo, showing the pure innocence of the young girl.

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 **A/N** \- I am so glad I've done this, I feel so much better about this chapter now :3 and I hope you liked it as well and leave a comment or a favourite maybe, but I promise I will do this update as fast as I can and will continue with the normal story line when I am done.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** \- I'm so sorry I'm doing this again but I need to! My OCD is hating me leaving this story shitty like this but I know that I am going to be done by the end of the weekend maybe... but I really hope you like how it turns out and I hope you can see a difference in how I make chapters and if now then oh well I tried.. Hope you enjoy.

 **Disclaimer -** I do not own Bleach **-** **Tite Kubo** **does!**

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2

The next couple of weeks Mai woke up with a smile, her mind had gone blank to what had happened with Ichigo and the Soul Reaper. She herself believing that everything that she had seen was a dream, and one that she could not remember very clearly. It all seemed fuzzy, as if something in her mind was stopping her from getting to the dream, thinking about it only gave the small teen a headache. Itachi could only watch as the blonde teen got ready for the day ahead making sure that he had been successful in allowing the blue eyed girls mind be free from any fear of beasts, or Hollows as they are more widely known to his kind.

"Father, you shouldn't be out of bed. Dr Kurosaki said that it was bad for your muscles!" the blonde teen quickly gushed as she saw her father standing in the kitchen staring off into the distance. She had quickly ran from her bedroom to see what her father was doing and when she had seen his standing there she knew that he may end up putting too much strain on his body. Nothing could help his slowly deteriorating muscles and they both knew it but Mai was desperate to do anything to make sure her father was always strong and could always be her hero.

Mai's worried voice had awoken the dark haired male from his thoughts, but he couldn't do anything but smile at his daughter. Itachi knew that she worried for him and he was happy that he had a caring daughter but sometimes he wished that she would worry more about her own life than his. But Itachi knew that whatever Isshin said would be wrong - because his illness was nothing of this world.

"Snowflake I'll be fine, I promise." the blue eyed male smiled at his daughter, his smile was true and held nothing but love. He always smiled at the blonde teen like that but even this worried Mai, everything her father did worried her, she was worried that he may not be with her one day and that fact alone scared her more than any demon or nightmare ever could. The blonde teen shook her head, curls flying around her head before she looked to him with determination. Her eyes shone, they were pure and honest, Itachi knew he wouldn't be able to get out of whatever the small teen was about to say.

"Okay father, but you have to promise me that when I get home we're going to see Dr Kurosaki?" Mai questioned as she placed her hands on her hips, while lightly glaring at the male before her. Itachi looked blankly at the blue eyed teen before a smile broke out on his face and he laughed, truly laughed. He knew that she meant well but he also knew that Isshin could do nothing to ale him, even Isshin knew this but it gave Mai hope so they would both oblige in any way possible. The small teen somehow did know that her father wasn't going to get any better, it was something nagging in that back of her mind telling her that she would one day be alone with no one there to help or support her, and for some reason she was slowly believing that that day was approaching.

"Fine, Snowflake, but you don't have to be so worried about your old man all the time." the dark haired male said light heartedly while looking into his daughters pale eyes, the eyes that once held so much pain, now all they held were concern for him. He shook his head before he brought up bad memories, he would only make Mai worry more. The blonde female looked away from her father and bit her lip as she thought, but quickly shook her head and looked back to her father before smiling a closed eyed smile and dropping her arms from her hips. She herself coming up with a realisation, and in her own mind it sounded silly but she knew that it was nothing but the truth.

"Father I barely have a life outside of this house," the blonde replied with a slight giggle, Mai didn't mind that she had to look after her father. She would prefer that then have to have a normal life any day. Itachi looked at his daughters smiling face and he could see that she was telling the truth, he hated it. He wanted her to go out and live her life to the fullest, not having to be tied down to him or the life that he lived. The dark haired males eyes then travelled down to the blue eyed teens right arm were it had been bandaged from her elbow down for the past couple of weeks, this then made him grit his teeth. He had not been quick enough and had to rely on the Kuchiki girl. The blue eyed male had never liked the Kuchiki's and he never would, they were the ones who had betrayed him and taken everything that he cared for away from him.

"Father, I have to go now, but remember our promise!" Mai's voice brought the dark haired male out of his thoughts, he couldn't help the smile that came to his face but when he heard the door close that smile dropped. Itachi quietly made his way to his bedroom and opened his wardrobe where he pulled out a long wooden box, one that he had not held for many years. He couldn't bare to look at the box let alone what the box held, he hated feeling like this, he wished he could be stronger for both of them but he knew that he couldn't. The blue eyed male had lost the only woman he loved and he feared the small girl he once knew and loved was slowly becoming a woman, he didn't know how much longer he could lie to her about her past.

"What has happened me?" the blue eyed male whispered as he opened the lid of the box, inside sat a black silk cloth, Itachi was scared to pull the cloth away. Scared that he would look upon the weapon that once held the woman he loved but now held nothing but dust. But he couldn't just stare at the silk he had to see what he had had done, he had to be strong for Yuri. His hand then slowly grasped the silk and pulled. When the cloth had been removed he sat on the floor staring at his old weapon, the one that he had fought with for many years. One of his large hands stretched and was lightly placed on the hilt of the sword, he no longer felt the small jolt he usually got when he would fight, he felt nothing now.

"Yuri, what have I done? I've lied to her for 10 years! She believes that you died! I cant live with this any more!" the dark haired male bent over and cried into the silk, not being strong enough to hold the once beautiful weapon. Now that he truly looked at it, it seemed dull, lifeless and haunted. He hated to see someone who was once so strong now reduced to an old sword sitting inside of a box. The long black blade seemed dull and no longer able to cut even a piece of paper, the cross shape guard had four prongs bent out to form the shape of a manji that were once strong, now they appeared as if they would crumble with the lightest touch. The hilt was simple and wrapped in black, somehow that had been the one thing that had not changed on his trusted weapon, but the whole Zanpakuto had seemed to change when Yuri died, it no longer shone, it no longer seemed to wield any power however the beauty was still there and Itachi could see that.

But day by day he could tell he and the sword were both fading away.

Itachi quickly shook his head and slammed the lid shut before he pushed the wooden box away, the dark haired male stood and stormed over to the window. His head bent forward as he grit his teeth, he could just see Yuri laughing at him, at how weak he had become. He could not even protect his own daughter! What kind of father did that make him?! Itachi's shoulders shook as tears fell from his eyes, he no longer cared at how the world viewed him, because he knew that his time was running out, he could feel his death approaching but he had to do one thing before any of that could happen.

"I need to see Urahara," the blue eyed male spoke aloud, he quickly turned from the window and walked back over to the wooden box while grabbing a glove that sat inside the box. He quickly placed the slightly faded glove on his right hand while staring at the sword he once loved and mentally preparing himself for what came next. Itashi let out a breath before pushing his now gloved hand into his chest, he felt a rush of air and his body fell to the floor while his soul stood and struggled to breathe for a few moments. Once he had regained his breath he quickly grabbed the wooden box and opened the window.

He smiled as he felt the wind whip his face, Itashi quickly climbed out of the window and closed it almost all the way before he jumped from the roof and landed across the street and ran as fast as he could to Urahara's shop. The blue eyed male needed to speak to the hat wearing Soul Reaper, Itachi knew he hadn't got much time left and Urahara was the only one he trusted with training Mai for what she needed to return to the place she belongs. This world was not where she is from and she should deserve to know that and she should deserve to have a chance to live as freely as she is allowed.

The dark haired male could only seem to imagine how Mai's first fight would go in the Soul Society and it was anything but good, and every time he thought a new strategy he could only see the blue eyed teens lifeless body on the floor without him there to help her. Itachi was always scared of his impending doom but he didn't let that get him down, he still had a reason to live and he could never be the one to put tears in Mai's eyes. No matter what he did. He was determined to always be there for her, only to be the light in her life, like she was in his.

Itachi quickly shook his head as Urahara's shop came into view, he knew how this would go and he just hoped that Kisuke would help me, well, help Mai. The dark haired male had a feeling that Kisuke still owed him a life debt so if he failed to do it of his own free will, he knew he could use that card. Through this thinking a shadow formed over the males blue eyes and a threatening grin spread across his face, already thrilled for the events that would unfold in this small store.

"Urahara! I have a favour to ask!" the dark haired male yelled as he threw the door to the store open. He looked around and there was no one in sight, a sweat drop appeared behind his head and he sighed, ' _where the hell could that blonde idiot be?!_ ' Itashi quickly walked over the threshold and the door slid closed behind him which only showed him that Kisuke was up to something but the blue eyed male didn't know what. That was until the dark haired male heard yelling, a smirk appeared on his face. He knew exactly what was going on. Urahara was training, and with this thought Itashi stormed through the store until he got to the small hidden door that he knew all too well and threw it open.

The large man smirked at the deep hole that seemed to be never ending and then jumped, already knowing what was happening. The dark haired male braced himself for the hard floor and landed gracefully on his feet, already used to doing this from the many years he spent with Kisuke Urahara when they had both been Soul Reapers. For this room was identical to the one they had found all those years ago back in the Soul Society.

"Kisuke!" Itachi yelled, his voice seemed to bounce off of the sky like walls, the ground seemed to slightly shudder at the force of both him and the large amount of spiritual pressure that was being released. But what made the blue eyed male laugh the most was that it was Kisuke that was fighting, the green hat wearing male was sat upon a rock watching the fight from afar. This always seemed to be Urahara's way of 'training'... and before the dark haired male could take another step forward he was called out by his blonde friend.

"Itashi Koyuki, I was wondering when you would next walk through my door." Kisuke called, without taking his eyes off of the orange haired boy fighting his trusty co-worker. The blonde male heard Itachi walk over to the rock he currently sat on and place an object beside him, Kisuke sighed. Urahara was not in the mood to have this argument again but somehow something in Itachi had changed, his ideals were new and he no longer held a strong aura, also his spiritual pressure was weak and slowly decreasing, as if it was leaking out of his body day by day. The blonde male quickly shook his head and turned to stare at his dark haired friend.

"For the last time, I cannot bring back her soul. She has been lost for too many years." Urahara said with a pained voice, he knew how much it hurt for Itachi to hear those words and he hated to hurt one of his closets friends but he knew that the dark haired male needed to hear it. But it was the truth, nothing in this world would be able to bring back a broken Zanpakuto, especially if it had been destroyed by a head captain. Urahara shook his head and allowed his hat to fall over his eyes so no one could see the hurt expression residing in them.

"That's not what I want Kisuke, I want you to prepare it for fighting. I know that the seal on Mai's memory's will soon weaken, its already starting to break and I need you to make sure she's prepared for what's going to come after her." Itashi spoke, ignore the fact that his heart broke with each word. He had spent 10 years struggling to keep the mind block on the blonde teen and now it was finally getting to him, draining the last of his spiritual pressure meaning that he knew that he only had weeks to live - which also meant he only had weeks to prepare Mai for her true nature.

"Itashi, your daughter is, what should I call it? A freak of nature. No one knew that she could even be born, no one knew a Zanpakuto spirit was even fertile - allowing your daughter to fight would mean that so many people would want her dead. She will surly die in the first fight she found herself in." The blonde make looked to his oldest friend from the corner of his eye, now taking in the small changes of his appearance over the years they had not seen each other. Itachi's short black hair had now been left to grow and was held back by a red ribbon at the base of his neck while his eyes still shone, but not with mischief because they now shone with love for the daughter that he had created. Urahara sighed. Himself thinking about Mai and wishing to protect her with everything that he had and knowing that this was a bad idea.

"Ichigo, you can take a break. I'm needed for a moment." Urahara called out emotionless, he jumped off of the rock he sat on and turned to Itachi. His forehead creased slightly thinking of the possibilities that would come with training a person born of both Zanpakuto and Soul Reaper. None of them seemed good in his mind but he had been proven wrong, on the very few occasions. _'If he would be able to break the seal on her memories, he could enhance her spiritual pressure and allow her to train hard every day meaning that she may be at least able to protect herself, may not be able to fight, but she can protect her-'_

"Urahara, I'm not finished!" A strong voice called, the dark haired male looked over to where the fighting was occurring and saw an orange haired teen, soon recognising him at Isshin's son Ichigo Kurosaki. The blue eyed male smiled slightly looking at the 15 year old and picturing his father in his mind, how they both held the same determination in their eyes. Itachi shook his head, he had a feeling that that quality may just get him killed, just like his father numerous times. Itachi laughed and shook his head while looking back to Urahara and smiling at his old friend with a knowing look in his eye.

"Well Ichigo, I am. and you can come back tomorrow, this sudden thing that came up is important and needs to be dealt with now." Urahara said in a monotone voice, the dark haired male couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for taking away Ichigo's training time, but he himself really needed help, he was in a rut. Mai would be returning from school in just a few hours and he and Urahara needed to do so much so that she would be ready for the battle that is most definitely coming. Itachi knew that this was his fault, he should have never run, he should have never done any of it. He shook his head and turned, ready to leave the training grounds.

"Hey wait! You're Itachi Koyuki! Mai's father!" Ichigo called out, now knowing where he knew the new man from only recognising him from the times he came to the clinic with Mai. As he looked at him he now realised that he was a soul reaper, yet he could barely detect his spiritual pressure, the brown eyed teen quickly shook his head and looked into the elder males blue eyes. He had the same eyes as Mai, they both shone, yet they both had different emotions behind them, whereas the blonde teen always held faith and love the older male before him only held fear.

"Well done Ichigo, you sure are bright. Now, me and Itachi have important business." Urahara called over his shoulder as he carried on walking back to the stairs that led out of the training ground while Itachi quickly grabbed the wooden box he had brought in and slightly jogged to catch up with the hat wearing man. Ichigo looked between the two and noticed how at ease they were around each other he had even noticed how Urahara had actually shown emotion while talking to the black haired male, something he had personally never seen.

"Tessai, what's the deal with those two?" the orange haired male spoke aloud, he knew Tessai was listening the whole time even though he made sure he looked as though he wasn't. The large male stood from where he had been sat and walked over to Ichigo and placed a large hand on his shoulder, slowly shaking his head while looking at the ground feeling sorry for what Itachi was going through, no one knew his pain. Even just thinking about it sometimes brought a tear to his eye, Mai was too kind and sweet for the fate that awaited her.

"Urahara and Itachi have been friends for as long as I can remember, they were at the Soul Society together and they have been close ever since. Itachi's daughter, Mai, is what you would call a 'freak of nature' she is born of something we believed to be impossible and now they have to train and fight against the soul society to keep her alive." The dark haired male spoke as he watched the two friends slowly get smaller and smaller into the distance. His head reeling with memories of when Mai was just a child and he grit his teeth before any tears could fall.

"What do you mean? Mai's normal, she cant see or sense Hollows in any way, shape or form? She doesn't even have spiritual pressure!" Ichigo yelled as he looked up to Tessai, he knew that he had struck a nerve as the older males face had become rigid and he took a few steps back and glared at the dark haired male, how can Mai be someone like him? She was too honest and sweet, she would never hurt a fly? She couldn't even stand up for herself as school let alone fight hollows!

"She may not have spiritual pressure now but she will and she will be like nothing of this world. Seeing isn't always believing Ichigo." Tessai quietly said as he too walked off, leaving the tall teen standing alone in the middle of the training grounds, only left with his thoughts. Suddenly thinking about Rukia, she had said that she saved Mai, why didn't she remember? Maybe he was thinking too much into this...

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 **A/N** \- oKAY I'm done... I'm tired of updating already and I'm only on the second chapter! Anyway I thought this chapter was okay as it was so I only added minor changes and all of the crap but I still hope its better than what it was before hand and I really hope you like the story and if your new then I hope you're going to like the chapters yet to come. So if you do like it then leave a comment or a favourite and don't forget to follow the story for updates on when I update!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** \- I AM SORRY I HAVE BEEN DEAD FOR THE LAST HOWEVER LONG! And this is a shorter chapter, but I am going to be writing new chapters and tidbits all this week so I hope I can make it up to you all. I really liked writing this chapter because I personally think this is the beginning of the real story I want to write and i hope you enjoy the updates to it!

 **Disclaimer -** I don't own Bleach **\- it belongs to Tite Kubo!**

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3

The day had gone by slowly, no one feeling the need to do very much, Mai in particular. The blonde haired girl had sat at her desk while her head rested upon her fisted hand, her mind was miles away while her eyes remained looking at the front of the class. No one seemed to bother the small teen, everyone seemed to know that something was bothering her, even her close friend Orihime. The grey eyed girl sat looking at her friend wishing that she was able to understand what was going through her head, hoping that soon she would be back to her normal self. Even Mai hated feeling like this, but it was out of her control, it was the people around her that made her feel this way.

"Mai, I don't think I've heard from you today. What do you think?" The teacher called, the blue eyed teen didn't move an inch. The dark haired female at the front seemed to visibly slump forward. There was nothing she could do to get the small teen to make an effort, she had barely done any of the work that had been set, not even Mai's father had been able to give the school an excuse meaning that the blonde haired teen was left to her own devices. However, this just made the blue eyed female feel worse because she had nothing to keep her mind off of the problems that she was going through.

While the teacher went on with her lesson like nothing happened the blonde haired girl did move, her eyesight shifted to the window to her left. the blue sky seemed to mock her, the birds being free and worry free. Mai scowled at the thought, she had never thought negatively on a beautiful day, she had not been right for a few days and even she herself knew this. She knew her friends were worried but she couldn't decide what to do, her mind was jumbled with the dreams she's been having, her anxiety was rising due to her father now barely being at home. Mai had spoken to her father about why he was never home and he had always said that he was going to the Kurosaki clinic, but when she had questioned Ichigo about it the orange haired male simply shrugged.

 _'What is going on?'_ Mai thought, her blonde eyebrows furrowing, Ichigo had been slightly cold to her, her father was going somewhere and he wouldn't tell her and now she sat in a stuffy classroom while she worried about everything. Her head moved from its place and turned to look at the orange haired friend that was in her thoughts and her eyes narrowed, she knew he was keeping something from her and it was really starting to irk her. Mai's small hands coiled into fists, she lightly clenched her teeth but after a while just sighed and slumped back in her chair, giving up with glaring at the said boy.

Suddenly a shrill bell rung through the school, signalling the end of another day at Karakura High School. Mai quickly grabbed her bag and ran to the door, not really listening to her friends calling her back, walking fast through the corridors got her many stares but she ignored all of them and walked on through the double doors and ran down the stairs while being careful not to trip. As soon as her black pumps hit the flat ground the blue eyed teen ran to the gates to the school and down the streets of Karakura, hoping that she would be able to get home quickly to see her father before he left again.

Barely 5 minutes of running and Mai was suddenly thrown to the floor, her blonde hair fanning out around her as her elbows ground against the concrete below her. She whipped her head around but froze when she saw was standing before her. It was a monster. This beast had a white mask covering all of its face, a hole straight through its chest which caused the small girl to shudder as she saw straight through and was able to see what was behind this monster. This beast had the body of a man almost but it seemed to be covered in fur and seemed to have no eyes behind the white mask it wore.

No noise was able to leave the blonde females lips due to the way even her vocal cords seemed to freeze, the only thing that seemed to be working was her mind. Images flashed behind her eyes, all of beasts similar to this she had seen before, but she had never seen one of these right? This couldn't be real. But Mai quickly shook that thought away when the beast took a step forward, the ground lightly shaking as it did. Still frozen the teen could do nothing but watch the beast slowly edge forward, her pupils dilating as the thing got closer. Beginning to shake the girl finally realised that something had to be done and no one was going to save her, that thought scared her which made her stand and turn the direction she had come from and begin to run like a madman.

Mai's blonde hair blew behind her in the wind she was creating, by running at the speed she was. The beast still followed her, easily being given away by the shuddering of the ground as it ran. Mai began to whimper, still not knowing what was going on fully but knowing that she needed to run and get away from the thing behind her. Quickly looking over her shoulder the blonde haired girl risked a sneak peak at how close the beast was and regretting doing so. Mai's pump had seemed to of gotten caught on a crack in the ground causing the small teen to tumble to the ground, rolling across it until she finally came to a stop on her side.

Pushing herself up she looked through the curtain of hair that hunger over her face at the beast, it had also stopped and was now looking at her. This seemed to calm the blonde teen down just a but so her breathing slowly becoming normal allowing her to think of a reasonable excuse for what she was seeing. The beast in front of her tilted its head while looking Mai straight in the eye (at least that's where she assumed it was looking). The blue eyed teen slowly took a large intake of breath before slowly pushing herself off of the floor and into a standing position. As she stood she quickly looked down at herself and saw she had a small amount of blood on her elbows and knees but other than that and a few rips in her uniform she was perfectly fine.

"What are you?" Mai's voice came out shaky, silently cursing herself for sounding so scared. The beast took a step forward and reached out an arm, its claws seemed like they would pierce her from where it stood and the blonde stiffened at the thought, she swallowed a lump in her throat and looked from the beast's hand back to its face, wondering why it was being silent. The blonde took a small step forward without removing her eyes from the beasts mask still worried that she could be skewered in a matter of seconds. Shaking the bad thoughts Mai looked to her feet that seemed to be making small steps on their own towards this monster before she stopped just a couple of steps away and looking up the at beast.

"I said, what are you?" Mai questioned again, hoping to get a reply this time but was once again greeted with silence. Her head hung slightly while she looked at her hands that were now clenched by her sides but a small noise made her head perk back up. She saw that the beast was now pointing his taloned finger at itself, her blue eyes widened slightly and she nodded. Her hopes slowly being answered and a small smile appearing on her pale face. She took a tentative step forward and reached a hand out to the beast, the beast then took its hand from its chest and held it towards Mai and when she seemed to be close enough she placed her pale hand on its own white hand.

"You're not a monster are you? Who are you?" The blondes voice still came out small, she looked from her own hand held in that of the thing before her and she couldn't help but feel silly for being so scared, she had really thought she would die when she had first seen it but now it seemed that it was an innocent creature, it meant her no harm as long as she meant no harm to it. Her blue eyes looked over the things face and saw that it did have eyes, they were just hidden in the darkness of the mask it wore and that thought made her heart a little sad, the thought that this thing had to hide its eyes from her.

"It's called a Hollow." A clipped voice called, Mai spun around her hand dropping to her side. She stared at the man before her, he had bright red hair tied at the back of his head while he had black markings coming from his eyebrows. The blue eyed teen looked him over and saw that he was wearing some form of uniform, she had seen it before but she couldn't remember where and some part of her was thankful for that. The blonde looked back at the thing behind her, now named a hollow and saw that the hollows eyes had shifted from her to the man before her and she saw that a new aura seeped from the hollow, one that wanted to kill.

"I suggest if you want to live, then you run along little girl." The man behind her pulled out a sword from a sheath that on his right side. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the weapon but was suddenly pulled away by the red haired male, she had been thrown over his shoulder while he jumped into the air, the blonde female couldn't help but yelp as the wind whipped past her head. She heard the man grunt as he brought down his sword on something hard and Mai cringed as she thought she knew what it was. The hollow's mask. The thought made her shudder, trying to stop thinking about it she closed her eyes and prayed that it would be over soon and he would put her down. But as soon as that thought entered the blonde's head it all stopped, she had stopped moving, the only movement she could feel was of the red haired man's breathing. She opened her blue eyes and she was still facing the floor and when Mai was about to open her mouth she heard more voices, familiar voices.

"Renji? What are you doing here?" Ichigo. Mai blushed, not believing that she was seeing her being held by another man. Especially since she was still in her school uniform. Mai was being held by a man she didn't know while her bra was on display through the rips in her blouse and then her skirt felt as if it was riding high up the back of her thighs, even though this man's hand did seem to be holding the fabric down by the way he was holding her legs. The blonde felt the muscles in the man's arms move before she was let go, falling off of his shoulder and landing on a heap in the floor next to him. Lightly glaring up at him from her new spot on the ground she didn't see Ichigo's shocked expression as he looked at her.

"Saving her sorry as, she seemed to be trying to make friends with a hollow. If you say your going to protect Karakura you might want to start trying Kurosaki." The red head seethed, not really caring what happened to the girl but knowing it was his job to save the humans, especially ones like her who had high amounts of Reiatsu but it didn't mean he liked to do it. Ichigo just looked away from Renji and looked to the blonde female on the floor, he looked at her from head to toe and realised that she had been a bit roughed up. Her blonde hair seemed to be a bit more wild than normal, and when he got to her clothes he realised that he could see her bra and his whole face was almost as red as a strawberry, but before he could look away he saw that she had blood on her arms and legs which made him gain him composure and walk towards the blue eyed teen.

"Mai?" Ichigo's voice seemed to bring the blonde teen out of her trance and she turned her head to face him, she smiled a closed eyed smile and raised her hand slightly. Ichigo still not understanding how she could see them shook his head and held out his hand for the blonde to take and she quickly did, her small hand sliding into his larger one easily. When Mai stood she opened her eyes again and saw that Ichigo was also wearing the same uniform that the red head was wearing, furrowing her eyebrows she looked back between the two wondering what they were doing and what was going on.

"Okay, I'm really confused. What happened to the hollow?" Mai's voice now came out clear like she hoped it would and looked between the two males before her, seeing them look between each other made her sweat drop slightly. Why were they not telling her anything? There must be a reason why they both looked the same, right? Mai shook her blonde head while she looked into Ichigo's brown eyes, he shifted uncomfortably and looked anywhere but at her. Mai sighed and turned to the red head and raised her eyebrows while placing her hands on her hips, hoping that she would be able to get an answer out of him but he just glared down at her and turned his head away before speaking.

"I'm not saying anything, it's Kurosaki's duty, you're in his jurisdiction" Now Mai was really confused, what does he mean by _'jurisdiction'_ Mai huffed and clenched her hands before turning back to Ichigo where he was still trying to look everywhere but the blonde teen before her. Her blue eyes seemed to darken as she walked over the the brown eyes male and stood directly in front of him and grabbed the front of his shirt, this made the larger male look down at the girl. He looked into her blue eyes but then closed his own as he sighed and shook his head lightly making the grip on the front of his top lighten as Mai let her hand dropped to her side.

"You can tell her Ichigo, she needs to know the truth," a third voice spoke up, all three teens turned to face the black haired male that stood before them. Renji blinked and then stumbled back slightly, his eyes only showing recognition within them. Itachi Koyuki. The red head stumbled onto his knees while he looked at the three in front of him, they were all so calm which he was having an internal battle with himself. Mai's blue eyes only shone with confusion, the same as Ichigo's brown own ones. Itachi seemed to know why the red head on his knees and he sighed with a smile on his face before shaking his head.

"You don't have to be scared of me, I didn't do any of those things and I no longer have a weapon," he simply said while staring at the red head while Mai turned to her dark haired father with a confused look on his face while he just smiled at her, the way he would always do when he was hiding something from her. But this time she was certain that she was going to get the information from him, one way or another. Itachi saw the look in his daughters light eyes and sighed, looking at his own Soul Reapers uniform before looking at the two males in front of him, the red head slowly getting up from his knees.

"Mai, honey I need you to understand that there are many things I have kept from you to keep you safe. I never wanted your life to be like mine or your mother's I-" Renji made a noise that made the black haired male stop, the red headed soul reaper knew of the stories but he didn't think they were real, they couldn't be real! it was an impossible thing to happen but his eyes shifted to the small blonde girl that stood not 3 feet from him and his eyes widened. His hand twitched to the hilt of his Zanpakuto but Itachi saw this and glared at the young red head. Itachi gave the red head a look that made his hand withdraw from his weapon so the elder male nodded his head before looking back to his daughter who stood with a slight hurt expression.

"Yes, as I was saying me and your mother are not of this world. We are what is known as Soul Reapers, we hunt those beasts called Hollows and make sure the people of Karakura are safe." Itashi looked into his daughters eyes and he couldn't look away, he didn't want to, he had to face her knowing that he had been hiding her past for the last 10 years. Mai looked torn, she wanted to believe her father but she didn't think she could, the man she had grown up with had never told her this, never even hinted that something was different. She shook her head, blonde hair flying around her, this causing a ringing in her ears, soon forming a pounding pain in her head. Mai stopped shaking her head and stood straight raising a hand to her head wincing.

"Mai?" a voice called, it seemed distant, she couldn't seem to figure out who it was. Suddenly the pain intensified causing the small teen to close her eyes, images suddenly flashing behind her eye lids, not being able to see them clearly began to make her heart race and her mind hurt more. A pain suddenly ripped through her chest, screams were heard and she couldn't breath, too scared to move she fell to her knees limply and allowed herself to fall. Expecting to hit the floor a sudden noise left the young girls lips as she continued to fall for what felt like years. The air whipped past her as she saw her own tears fall from her eyes. Nothing in her life had felt like this, it couldn't be real she kept telling herself. Before everything around her simply became black, not even a thought passed through her mind.

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 **A/N** \- Well, I am now officially bored. I have been doing this all day and my hands hurt, but once again I didn't change that much in this chapter, mainly just to change spellings and add odd things but its mainly the same which I kind of like because this chapter was okay I guess. I hope you like the story and all of the rubbish and I really need some ideas or something so it would be great if you could comment or even message me what you think... but if you like it then please go ahead and favourite and follow the story, it would be such a great thing to happen!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N -** I know, I know. I'm late again and I am so sorry for that but I had another case of writers block and thats kinda why this chapter is kinda crappy but I think It'll surface until the next one is up. anyway I hope you like it and maybe leave a nice comment for me to read...

 **Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach,** **Masashi Sogo does!**

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4

Ichigo saw Mai begin to fall, his eyes widened before he could think and he quickly moved to catch her before she could hit her head on the cold pavement. He looked down at her closed eyes and saw her pale skin, her head hanging limply to the side. His brown eyes searched her body for any injury that may be causing this but he could see nothing, luckily she had not been hurt by that hollow, which made his eyebrows furrow, why did the hollow not kill her? He shook his head before pulling the small girl up into his arms, her head resting on his chest while his arms were under her knees and holding her back up to make sure that she would not harm herself.

"Thank you Ichigo, I can no longer move that fast." Itashi said quietly as he looked at his daughter and the orange haired male simply nodded at the older male while looking at Renji who had not taken his hand off of his Zanpakuto the whole time the dark haired male had been speaking. _'What is his deal?'_ Ichigo shook his head and began to walk away, back to his home where his father could help the small teen in his arms, while cleaning the grazes that she had sustained. The two males left behind Ichigo looked at each other, before Itashi could open his mouth Renji had pulled out his Zanpakuto and pointed it between the elder males eyes.

"I know who you and your daughter are, and I have been told to kill you on sight! What makes you think I wont hesitate when I catch up with Kurosaki?" Renji growled, his brown eyes only holding pure anger. He knew of Itashi Koyuki, the man who had had a child with a Zanpakuto Spirit and then fled due to the crimes he committed against the Soul Society, which made the hold Renji held on his Zanpakuto even tighter, he knew of the horrors the man before him had committed and wasn't willing to let them go that easily. The dark haired Soul Reaper simply shook his head and turned in the direction that Ichigo had gone, not wishing to discuss this at the moment while his daughter was out cold in the arms of a teenager.

"Renji Abarai, if you wish to kill me than you'll just have to wait and then I'll gladly allow you to kill me, as long as you can promise my daughter protection and you give this message to the Soul Society when you return," the black haired man pulled out a simple envelop that had no title on the front nor back, but seemed to have a large message on the inside. Renji looked at the man's outstretched hand and slowly took the letter, he nodded his head without looking the elder male in the eye and walked past him, following his orange haired friend. The red head didn't like taking orders from an outcast but he knew that he should at least grant him this, he couldn't expect the dying man to live much longer anyway and with his daughter so close he didn't feel like it was the right thing to do.

Itashi watched the two younger males walk towards the Kurosaki clinic and he smiled, he knew that Mai would be safe if he had to leave. The smile fell from his lips as he looked to the sky and then closed his eyes and sighed. The black haired male dropped his head and opened his eyes while clutching his hands at his sides before he began to limp towards the Kurosaki clinic with his two younger counterparts. on this slow walk he saw so many things change, the way that the wind moved the trees and allowed the leaves to fall from the trees and fly through the sky and ultimately be free, as he himself would one day be.

"Itashi, you need to get your Gigai. My father doesn't know about any of this." Ichigo's voice brought the black haired male back into reality. He smiled and nodded before turning and heading in another direction so he could get back into his Gigai. The thought made him shudder lightly because he hated the thing and did prefer it when he was just a soul but he knew that sometimes people would get freaked out by the soul reapers but he also no longer cared. The list of people that he truly cared about was very small, nothing like it had once been... the very thought made the blue eyed soul reapers shoulders sag.

Itashi looked up from his stupor and saw he was already outside of his home, the very one he had been living in for the past 5 years, the one he shared with his only daughter. A smile spread across his face as he entered through the front door and quickly made his way towards his bedroom to get his Gigai, once he got there he was inside of it in a flash and beginning to make his way back to the Kurosaki clinic. His speed faster now, as he had a real body to control the pain he had previously been in. His blue eyes no longer wincing with each step he took.

The black haired male looked to the doors of the Kurosaki clinic and saw they were left open so he could make his way inside to his daughter who now lay on her back with a thin sheet placed over her frail body. Ichigo looked up from his clenched fists when he heard movement, only locking eyes with Itashi Koyuki, the man he believe the be as simple as the next. His brow furrowed when he thought back to Renji's stance when he first arrived, the way the fear edged into his brown eyes and the way his body began to shake, like this man was a mass murderer.

"Itashi, why did Renji's act the way he did when you arrived? What have you done to cause that reaction?" Ichigo's voice came out strong and demanding. the look in his eyes not wavering as the elder male struggled to look into the orange haired males eyes. His own beginning to water slightly at the very thought of why he has to run all of the time. He shook his head and sighed before looking at his peaceful daughter laying before him. When thinking back to his days in the Soul Society, he remembered all of the friends he had but as soon as he had done one thing wrong he was thrown out and left with nothing, not even the love of his life was with him then, and now she was never going to be with him.

"I have broken their laws." Was the only answer Ichigo got, simple and to the point. Itashi wished he didn't have to explain the whole situation but if Ichigo was anything like his father he knew the orange haired male would what more and he couldn't have been more wrong. Ichigo looked at the black haired male before his and sweat dropped, the only thing he could think of at that moment was what Tessai had said to him a couple of weeks prior about Mai being different and stronger than a normal human which led him to his next question.

"How? By having Mai?" Itashi's eyes widened slightly at how quickly the younger male caught on, but then he was training under Urahara so he shouldn't be shocked. Itashi's blue eyes went to Ichigo's and he just stared for a few seconds. Ichigo looked straight back, not daring to blink or even look away. The elder male smiled and sat down on the bed next to his daughters left and looked towards her, she still lay not moving and then he sighed again and shook his head slightly and slowly began to sit back and started to worry at how the orange haired male before him would react to the news that Mai wasn't fully human, well she wasn't human at all. but his thoughts were cut short when Ichigo spoke up again.

"I know that she is born of Soul Reaper and something else and that she is not human, but how is that in any way dangerous?" Ichigo carried on as Itashi didn't look as if he was going to reply so he egged on to try and get a real answer from the man before him. Ichigo wanted to know what was so wrong with Mai, he knew that she was part soul reaper, that much was obvious. The thing that he couldn't figure out was how did he break the rules of the soul society, he had been there himself and he had could nothing wrong with the soul society, it seemed like a simple place to live. even if everyone there was technically dead. Ichigo then looked away from the male before him and tried to come up with way that he could have broken in the rules in his own mind and while he wasn't paying attention he didn't see Itashi grin and shake his head at the young boys facial expression.

"Mai's mother was my Zapakuto spirit. The soul society is worried because of how strong a Zanpakuto spirit can be, and that mixed with a soul reaper can be deadly. They wish to get rid of the very thing that could destroy them all." Itashi's voice became dark, he hated talking about Mai as if she wasn't there, but she was dangerous and he knew it. The elder male didn't want to admit it but he knew he shouldn't lie to one of the only people that would be able to protect the blonde girl in question, he needed as much help as he could get due to his deteriorating health. The orange haired male's eyes widened, his mouth dropped open because he could not believe in any way that Mai was dangerous, she had always been calm and kind, nothing like a person with as much power as Itashi was saying she had.

Itashi also knew that this was hard to believe, he hated to admit it but he knew he had to. He had to be the one who told Mai what she was and no one should then need to know of the reasons why his health was so bad, not even Mai herself. The blonde female still lay still, not moving an inch from the time that she was brought in, itashi knew that she would be fine, she had the blood both a Zanpakuto and a soul reaper, her healing abilities would be faster than that of a regular human. Thats what Itashi hoped anyway. on the other side of the single bed that Mai lay on, the orange haired substitute should reaper sat looking at the pale girl who occupied the bed and a million and one images flew through his mind, _'how could this small and innocent girl be capable of so much destruction? she had never even been mean to a single person for the years that i have known her'_

Ichigo was brought out of his thoughts by a rustling, he shook his head, orange locks flying around his head while he looked back to the slowly waking up girl that lay on the bed that his father had made up for her. The girl in question, simply opened her eyes after a few failed attempt and looked around the room, instantly spotting the orange head of her closest friend and the dark hair of her father. The thought of both of them in the same room brought a small smile to her face, but then the thought of what happened came to her mind and her smile instantly dropped. This being spotted by both her father and friend, both becoming instantly worried. Mai tried to push herself up from where she was laying but a dull ache began to form in the back of her head prompting her to lay back down and close her eyes for a couple of seconds.

"Mai, what do you remember? I need you to tell me, just so I know that you're alright." Ichigo leaned forward on his seat and made himself eye level with the blue eyed female and made sure that she understood him before worrying her about the things that her father had told her. The orange haired soul reaper saw Mai's eyes shift to her father for a few seconds and then come back and stare into the males brown eyes. She nodded her head and sat up again, this time without the pain in the back of her head. Her blue eyes scanned the room again and made sure that these two men in front of her weren't just in her imagination and that they were both here, she then cleared her throat and looked at her hands that were now in her lap.

"Uhm, I remember this beast. I mean the hollow, and then there was this guy with uhh, red hair? He called me out and said that I shouldn't be that close to the hollow. But then dad said something about him and mum being 'Soul Reapers' and then something else, I'm not 100% sure." The blonde teen said carefully while her brow was fully furrowed, her head still hurt slightly but she was able to overcome that and think back to the things that had happened before she had been knocked out, but she still couldn't figure out how she was unconscious. That was the one piece to the puzzle she couldn't figure out. With lack of response from the two males before her, she looked up and saw both of them looking at one another, her eyes scrunched slightly with confusion.

"So you remember me telling you about me and your mother, thats good I suppose. I just need you to know meet a friend of mine who will train you to become what you are meant to be and return to the place that is your true home." Itashi said with a smile, he looked away from the orange haired male before him and to his daughter who lay with no answers to any of the things that she was feeling and the things that she was beginning to think and feel. Her blue eyes widened slightly, along with Ichigo's, neither of these two teenagers thought that Mai would need training. But Mai was now left with the wondering thoughts of why she would need training? If she was returning to her home then wouldn't it be a good thing, not a reason to need to train?

"You said nothing about training? Why would she need training?! She's not going to the soul society to fight!" Ichigo burst, he didn't know why he said it but he knew that it needed to be said, Itashi may be Mai's father but that didn't mean that he could send Mai to her death. Ichigo knew that with the personality that Mai had she would not last a day in the Soul Society with all of the men that would surely take her head off the first chance that they got! The brown eyed male looked back to Mai and saw her staring at him with a strange look in her eyes, one that even he couldn't figure out, which meant that this was something new because Ichigo knew how to read the blonde pretty well through the past 5 years that they had been friends.

"Ichigo, I know that you are Mai's friend, but I am her father. I know whats best for my daughter and I know that she's going to need help going to the Soul Society and the one person that I need help from isn't you." Itashi spoke with a clipped tone, which made Ichigo coil back slightly and made Mai herself flinch. She had never heard such harshness in her fathers voice, this then made her think, she needed to know what she being trained for and what was really going on and why was Ichigo not wanting her to go to this 'Soul Society' place, it didn't sound so scary after all.

"Where is this Soul Society? and why do you need to train me? and I actually want answers dad, I don't want to be lied to anymore." Mia's blue eyes stared right into her fathers, making sure that he didn't turn away and drop her gaze. Itashi didn't have any intension if dropping his gaze from his daughters, he knew that he shouldn't have lied to her for so long and he knew that he would have to now pay for it. he shook his dark hair and looked back to his daughter before going over what he was going to say to make sure none of it scared the frail teen, for she had already been through so much.

"You know that me and your mother are from the Soul Society, and that was the place that you were born. We were all fine for a couple of years until Souske Aizen had gone to the Captain of the Gotei 13 and sent all 13 squads after me and your mother, she risked her life to save me and you. We had gotten out alive but your mother didnt, me and you have been outcasts since then. But now that you have gained your memory and know all of this you are going to need to train, to make sure that you are able to hold your own against the people in the Soul Society." Mai looked to her father shocked, she never knew her mother risked her life. That alone made the blonde girl want to fight for herself, to make sure that she stayed safe for the sake of her mother who had risked everything to keep herself and her father alive.

"When do we begin? I want to learn how to fight, and I want to go to the place where I was born." it didn't take a second for the word to leave the blue eyed girls lips and that alone made her father smile and he knew that she was serious, she had the same look as her mother in her eyes. Ichigo looked between father and daughter and saw the determination in both of their eyes, he knew that he couldn't change the blonde girls mind and somehow he knew that he didn't want to, he wanted to see what she was capable of and how she would be able to deliver such a big deal that her father had already told him.

 _X_

In the dark sat a man, one that could not be seen clearly through the lack of light but the light that was available bounced off of the rim of his black framed glasses. The silver hair of the man beside her shone through the darkness, they both had a sinister smile to their faces as they looked at the parchment that sat before them. The one that held a single name of a child who had now become of age and had her memories back, one that could be played as a pawn in their upcoming game, an easy target and an easily disposed of piece.

 _Mai Koyuki_

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 **A/N -** SORRY! Crappy right? But I did put effort into this and oh my god I got to write half of it on a Mac computer! I was actually fingerling as I was typing! Anyway :3 I hope you like and I should have another chapter soon-ish, I have started writing it but I just need to finish it now, until next time my lovelys...


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N** \- I know this took me a while but I am actually happy with how this turned out, if you don't like long winded chapters then I'm sorry but I thought that I needed at least one, and this chapter actually is interesting (Well I thought it was when I was writing it) I hope you like! :3

 **Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach, Masashi Sogo does!**

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5

Weeks had gone by and Mai seemed to be at ease knowing that she was training to become stronger, she was happy to learn what Urahara had to offer. The blue eyes teen was learning the moves pretty quickly, and Kisuke was happily surprised at the short blonde. Rukia had even been helping where she could when she was in the world of the living, teaching Mai what she could when she had the time. Ichigo often sat in the background and watched the way that the blonde moved and was most of the time scowling, still not believing that it was a good idea for Mai to fight, especially when her head was wanted back in the Soul Society.

"Keep scowling like that you'll begin to wrinkle." A voice brought Ichigo out of his thoughts and he lightly glared at the black haired soul reaper as she walked around to the rock that the brown eyed male was leaning against. Ichigo sighed and crossed his arms over his chest while shaking his head, he looked back to the pale girl who was practising her swords mah ship. His scowl still not leaving his face only getting stronger as Urahara brought Mai to her knees with a sword at her throat. It was now Rukia's turn to sigh, she couldn't understand why Ichigo was acting this way, the girl was learning how to defend her self, what was wrong with that.

"Ichigo, Mai is doing this for not only her but for you and everyone she knows in the world of the living. She believes that this will make her better, now she can protect the people she cares about." The small Soul Reaper quickly said as she too leaned against the large rock, looking to the blonde girl who had now got Urahara on the floor with her sword at his throat, this made both teenagers smile. The orange haired male looked down to Ruika and sighed again, he knew that he shouldn't be worried about Mai and what she was doing but he couldn't help it, ever since the day he met her she's been the one who needed protection.

 _Ichigo had just been let out of the stuffy classroom he had been stuck in for the past two hours, he yawned and scratched the back of his head when he looked over the grass within the school grounds and saw a small girl with bleach blonde hair. She was sitting alone reading a book, she looked happy being alone so Ichigo turned and walked away trying to find his friends so he could eat his lunch with them all. A noise made the orange haired male turn around though, it was a ripping noise followed by a noise of disgust. His brown eyes now turned to see the same small blonde girl from before but now she was surrounded by three older boys who were from the year above._

 _Ichigo scowled as he saw one of the three boys rip pages from the book that the girl was reading which made the girl scowl and say something to the guy who had taken her book. This is when the orange haired boy decided he should go over and help. When Ichigo got to the girl there were tears in her eyes and a small red mark on her left arm which made the brown eyed male angry, they had hurt the girl for no reason. The three boys turned around and now faced the orange haired male and so did the small girl, she looked up at him with tears in her clear blue eyes._

 _"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" Ichigo yelled, his voice held no sense of fear making the small girl smile slightly. The blonde haired female looked to the bullies around her and saw that they all had matching smiles on their faces, they then threw the book that the girl had been reading onto the floor before her feet, making the small girl shudder lightly hoping that they would leave her alone, also while leaving the boy that had come to her rescue alone._

 _"What, and you think we should pick on you, shortie!" The brown eyed bully spoke, his voice rough. Ichigo looked him dead in the eye and nodded, he knew this was the right thing, after all this girl seemed to be new and didn't seem to have done anything to annoy the boys in front of him. The three boys looked at each other and smiled wider, they all then took a step towards the brown eyed male, Ichigo smiled and raised his fist to hit the one closest one to him and hit him square in the jaw. The elder boy took a few steps back to steady himself before he advanced towards the orange haired male faster and hit his in the chest pushing Ichigo back._

 _The small girl coward as she saw the boys hitting each other, she didn't want any of this. She knew that the three elder boys were nothing more than bully's and she knew that if she didn't react they would just leave her alone, but the orange haired boy had to get involved and now he was going to be hurt because of her. The blue eyed girl stood up with clenched fists and walked over to the small circle that now surrounded the brown eyed boy that had come to her rescue and pulled at one of the elder boys arms to get him away from her saviour. All she got as a reply was a shove that pushed her back towards the tree she came from but she tripped over one of the roots and fell back. The back of her head made contact with the hard surface with a solid crack and all four males turned to look at the blonde female now laying against the trunk of the tree with one of her hands cradled the back of her head._

 _The three elder males looked between each other and back to the blue eyed female as she pulled her hand away from her head and there was blood on her fingers, they saw this and ran, not wanting to get the blame for making the small girl bleed. Ichigo took a step forward and lent down on one knee to be eye level with the blonde female, he outstretched his hand to take the pale one of the girls in his to make sure that she was okay. The girls scared blue eyes met his warm brown eyes with a worried look, Ichigo smiled at the girl to calm her nerves._

 _"Let me have a look at your head," His voice was calm, the blonde female nodded and turned around so that Ichigo could see where the blood was coming from, and it wasn't coming from her head but rather from the base of her neck where there seemed to be a pretty deep scratch where she made contact with the trees bark. The orange male shook his head, his orange locks swaying with the movement and looked back to the scratch while raising his hand slightly to touch just around where the mark lay to make sure that there wasn't any more damaged done._

 _The blonde girl whimpered and winced away from his touch and then apologised a second after, her head slightly bowed as her shoulders shook. Ichigo noticed this and realised that the girl had begun to cry. Ichigo sighed for the hundredth time that day and turned the girl around with a large smile on his face to cheer the girl up. She looked at the boy before her and couldn't help but smile back because he had been the first one to show her any form of kindness within the short amount of time that she had been living in Karakura town._

 _"I'm Ichigo, what's your name?" The orange haired male suddenly said making the girls blue eyes widen slightly as she looked at his closed eyes smile with a fond look on her face, having an idea that she may have found her first friend in this new town._

 _"Mai"_

Ichigo was brought out of his memories when a sword had lodged itself into the rock next to his head, the boys brown eyes widened and looked to the culprit. When he saw a grinning blonde before him he sweat dropped, the girl in question laughed at the expression on the tall males face and went to collect the sword, but when she had gotten over to Ichigo he had already dislodged the sword and was now pointing it in the direction of the blue eyed female with a new found smirk on his face.

"I suppose if you have to learn how to fight, then why don't you learn from me?" Ichigo spoke with a hint of smugness in his voice and the blonde females eyebrow twitched slightly as he spoke, she had been training for the whole day and now he was expecting her to fight with him, who already knew how to wield Zanpakuto?! Mai shook her head, her blonde hair swaying with the movement and crossed her arms before looking at her orange haired friend and laughing lightly. Ichigo sweat dropped again and the arm that held the sword dropped slightly.

Mai started to laugh harder and she couldn't help herself, the way that Ichigo held himself when fighting made the small girl laugh. She had never seen the orange haired male look so serious. Ichigo on the other hand was just looking at the blonde girl as if she was insane, she was doubled over, holding her sides while laughing and after a few more minutes of the small girl laughing she finally started to calm down and breath properly again. Mai stood for a couple of seconds with her hands on her knees while trying to regain the correct breathing pattern.

"I'm sorry Ichigo, but I'm done for the day. I really cant fight any more, I mean I've been doing it all day and I still haven't learnt about how I'm meant to get into my soul form. I'll work on that and then I'll fight you." Mai spoke while standing back up straight and looking into Ichigo's brown eyes. Not backing down the taller male stalked over to the blonde female and stood barely a foot away from her while staring down at her short figure, she was just about the size of Rukia. The orange haired male sighed and handed the sword back to Mai and turned on his heel readying himself to leave.

"As soon as you get your soul form, I'll teach you how to fight properly and not all of this easy shit they've been shoving down your throat." Ichigo called over his shoulder and Mai couldn't help but smile at her friend. She knew that he was against this and she knew that he wanted her to be safe but he also didn't want her to be in any part of the Soul Society but she had to. The blonde shook her head and turned back around to her father and Urahara who didn't move or speak until Mai was the one to make a move towards them. Kisuke was the first to speak between the three.

"Mai, I suppose you want to learn how to change into your soul form?" He spoke with a smile and Mai couldn't help but smile back before nodding her head, but her smile dropped when he picked up the stick he would usually carry around and pointed it at her forehead, Itashi sweat dropped and stepped away from the two and walked behind the blonde female getting ready to catch her body as it fell. Mai looked between the two elder males and shuddered internally as she saw the look on Kisuke's face, one that seemed to be able to see into her soul and make even her soul cold. The blonde gasped as the end of the stick was shoved right between her eyes and she struggled to breath for a couple of seconds before she coughed and leaned forward to catch her breath.

"What the hell was that for?!" Mai yelled as she stood back up straight, but as she saw the smile on Urahara's face she looked to er father for more information and saw him holding her body. The blonde paused for a second to realise what she was seeing, her father was holding her body... The blue eyed teen let out a small noise of confusion and fell back herself onto the floor. She stared up at the painted sealing while muttering incoherent words to herself. Two faces then came into her vision and she looked between the two elder males as they both chuckled to themselves while looking down at the helpless teen on the floor.

Mai sat back up and looked around before looking down at herself. She realised that she was now wearing different clothes as well, she looked to her fathers soul form and saw that she was wearing the same clothes. The blonde stood up and looked down at her body more carefully and realised what would usually be the normal Soul Reaper uniform was different, instead of covering her whole upper body hers stopped just under her breasts and was tied by a white sash. The bottom half was identical to the normal Soul Reaper uniform and she was glad, but her self-conciousness got the better of her as she folded her arms around her belly where the black circle of symbols sat around her bely button.

"That wasn't so hard now was it Mai?" Urahara said as he put his stick down and looked over at the girl, he too noticed the black circle on her stomach and chose to ignore it for now but making a mental note to talk to Itashi about it later on when the blonde female wasn't within the same room. The blue eyed female turned to face the blonde male and shook her head, Urahara gestured towards her father so Mai turned around and looked at her father who now held her real body close to his chest.

"This is what you will look and feel like every time you turn into your Soul form, but I think Urahara will probably give you something to help your soul be released instead of hitting you with a stick every time." Itashi smiled down at his little girl and saw her nod with understanding while absently rubbing the spot where she was hit with the stick, causing both males to laugh slightly at the look that Mai was now giving the blonde male behind her. The dark haired male smiled at the blonde in front of him as he thought about what was going to happen to her know that she knew about everything that her past consisted of. But he was happy that she had taken all of it pretty well.

Itashi shook his head and turned around to put Mai's body down in a safe place where it wouldn't get damaged. He then went towards the exit of the giant training room and picked up the wooden box that he held so dear it was time for the blonde female to train with the sword that would eventually be her Zanpakuto. The blue eyed male looked at the wooden box with a soft look in his eyes before lightly stroking his large hand over the surface and picking the box up and turning on his heel again so he was facing the two blondes who seemed to be watching him, one wit a confused expression and the other with a knowing one.

"Mai, this is the sword that you're going to train with from now on, its called a Zanpakuto, but this one does not have a spirit. That's my fault but you will still be able to gain power from this sword if wielded the right way." Two sets of blue eyes met and the younger of the two took the dark wooden box from her father and leant on the ground before pulling the lid off of the long box and placing it on the ground next to her while she looked at the silk that covered the majestic sword. The long black blade seemed to shine in a way that told Mai she would be safe, the cross shape guard had four prongs bent out to form the shape of the manji that was polished and made to look new. The hilt was simple and wrapped in black, and a simple piece of lace hung from the end of the hilt with a small bell that tinkled whenever the sword was moved.

The blonde girls eyes widened as she looked upon the sword and picked it up with both hands, and after hearing the comforting sound that the small bell made she smiled, instantly recognising the noise as the bell that was given to her from her mother before she had died. Mai looked up to her father with a tear in her eye and a small smile on her face and he reflected the same look as he saw his only daughter holding what was once his sword and what once was the very thing that held her mother. Two sets of blue eyes locked again and Mai stood up, dropping one hand from the word so only her right hand held the hilt of the Zanpakuto and smiled to her father with the hopeful look back in her clear eyes.

Urahara has decided that this was the right moment to leave the two alone to talk and train together, he not wanting to interrupt the touching father, daughter moment. That thought alone making the elder male smile and bringing back memories of when Mai was a lot younger and would play with him and her father. Always with that hopeful smile on her face, and the innocent look in her eyes. That look long gone from her eyes but the smile never leaving her face nor her personality. Shaking his head he walked out of the training grounds making sure that his plan would be ready to train the teens for the trouble that was slowly coming there way, with a knowing smile he closed the door to the back of the shop and got to work.

After hearing the door to the training grounds open and then close Itashi looked to his daughter and saw her begin to move around with the Zanpakuto, she seemed to be able to wield the weapon well. Mai on the other hand was more interested in how light the sword really was, even the training swords that Urahara had given her were heavier than this. The small girl smiled and looked to her father for guidance and he nodded to her to keep her doing what she was, making sure that she would be able to get the hang of the feel of the sword before starting any form of training with it.

A gleam formed in Mai's eyes and she began to move around the training ground with more confidence and began to move like she was taught by Urahara and Tessai. Her smile widening as she moved with such ease, her new uniform swishing with every movement and her hair following her as she danced around the room with the bell jingling a happy tune as she went, a small laugh came from the girl as she moved, happy that she was finally going to be strong enough to protect those around her and be able to repay what Ichigo has done for her so many times.

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 **A/N** \- Ha! It's done! Finally! I was happy to have finished this chapter because I thought that I gave it a nice touch with the personal moment but I don't know... Anyway leave a like or comment and then it might just make me update the story a bit quicker ;) but I have been busy lately and I promise that I have many ideas written down in a note book of mine and a have started the next chapter already! Until next time my loves!


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